


Fear Me

by Millie55



Category: Divergent (Movies), Divergent - All Media Types, Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Genre: Dauntless Faction, Dauntless Faction Initiation, Eric is Divergent, F/M, Fear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 16:02:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20641874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Millie55/pseuds/Millie55
Summary: Dauntless initiate is forced through the fears of her trainer when he notices the pattern of divergence. He, however, has his own fear face and hopes she can be the key to conquer it.





	Fear Me

Sneaking around in the corridors at night would put an initiate’s placement in their new faction at risk -- unless that faction was Dauntless. In the faction that valued strength and bravery, being reckless and sneaking around was almost expected. One only had to assure they did not encounter a member high up in the hierarchy of leadership.

The shadows cast by the moon was the cover the initiate needed by the young woman who remained near pressed against the wall as she navigated her way through the twists and turns of unfamiliar territory. While the transfer was from Erudite, known for their intelligence and knowledge, Delilah struggled to map out the Dauntless compound to perfection. She still found herself stumbling upon dead ends and getting herself turned around without the guidance of her fellow initiates. Her destination was the simulation room.

Only days prior she had been subjected to the serum that brought forth her fears. In the simulation, she faced nine instances where were heart raced and made her palms sweat. While the initiates remained in the simulation room chair, their minds faced the most terrifying instances they could imagine. Some faced them in minutes other took hours, some were silent, and others screamed until their throats were raw. Delilah however, navigated through her simulation with ease -- though upon completion it was apparent that to have great skill when it came to this component of initiation was very rare. She remembered very clearly the looks held by her superiors as she lurched back into reality with a heavy breath and her nails digging into her palms.

It could only be assumed that her first round of simulation testing was the very reason why she was asked back to the simulation room tonight. Her stomach was in knots as she came to the door, had they found out what she really was? The thought terrified her, but the knife she had stolen from the training room gave her peace of mind. If they tried to subdue her, she wouldn’t go down without a fight.

A hand wrapped in bandages reached forward, pushing the door open slowly. Through the crack in the door, she could see only one figure. Tall and broad with his strength. Black leathers and cotton clinging to his form, showing enough skin to display the dark ink that marked the majority of Dauntless’ members -- Delilah still had yet to subject herself to unofficial initiation process of covering her skin with tattoos.

The man who greeted her was all too familiar. His was the first face she had seen after taking the leap into Dauntless. Chiseled like stone, and his gaze so cold it made their city’s cold winters tremble-- it was Eric. Why had he, and he alone, called her to the simulation room? Pulling the crumpled paper from her pocket, she tossed the message his way.

“You wanted to see me?” Her voice was firm in an attempt to hide the subtle worry she felt in her nerves. Having a Dauntless leader call upon you in private did not seem like a good thing -- this was how initiates went missing, or worse, ended up in the bottom of a chasm.

Eric spoke no words and instead moved back towards the door the initiate had just entered. Calloused fingers twisted at the lock, assuring no one else would disrupt them. Glancing back the Delilah, he couldn’t help but notice the tension in her shoulders rise at his action. She was afraid.

“The least you can do is tell me why you ask me here,” her words found the air again, this time stronger with a sense of impatience. Again, Eric failed to answer her question but asked of his own.

“Do you trust me?” his words were simple as he moved over to the computer and brought the screen to life. Delilah didn’t reply. Instead, her mouth was agape with confusion. “I asked, do you trust me?” Eric sounded again, his tone harsher as if they were back in the training room surrounded by her fellow initiates. He was not playing games.

“Honestly, I don’t.”

“How Candor of you,” Eric’s eyes rolled, but his tone was teasing. He knew very well that she was an Erudite transfer, just like he had been. Eric had been sent to Dauntless with a purpose, Delilah however, seemed to be running from something.

Picking up the syringe filled with serum, Eric stepped forward with the needle aiming for Delilah’s neck. The brunette lurched away. She was not going to let him inside her head. A pierced brow raised, what was she hiding? He would find out in time, but that was not the purpose of her being here.

“Relax,” he demanded, “we aren’t entering your fears, we’re entering mine.”

The initiate’s features softened, and the same baffled look took her face. He couldn’t help but smile at how stupidly cute she appeared-- like a deer right before you shot it.

Rough hands directed her to the chair where she was more willing to let the serum take to her veins. Once he knew she had entered the simulation, he lowered himself down into his own chair and brought the needle to his neck.

There was a moment of darkness before he was pulled into his first fear. He had faced them all many times before. When he had first entered Dauntless, on his first day they were forced into the sim. He walked out one of the strongest initiates with twelve fears to conquer and he did it well. With his time spent at Dauntless, he had managed to reduce the number of fears he held -- that was only until recently. He had gone from twelve fears to eight, but now it was apparent that he developed a ninth and each one was about to be explored in the company of his initiate.

His first fear was once needles, but after submitting himself to a series of piercing and tattoos, he had concurred it. Now, however, he founds himself in the halls of Erudite. Usually, he stood alone, but today beside him was Delilah. Amazement consumed her, her eyes bright as she took in the sights of where they had been raised. “It’s just like being back home,” she breathed out, her hands reaching out to touch the sterile white wall. After she spoke, he watched as her jaw clenched, she knew her word choice was improper, as did he.

It took many instances in the simulation for Eric to fully comprehend that it was not real-- he assumed that was because Erudite had helped develop the technologies -- that was until his mind was freed from the confinements placed upon him by his home faction.

“You are aware this is a sim?” Eric asked slowly and heard the footsteps that haunted him.

“So are you,” she pointed out gently a manicured brow rising to meet his. “Who’s that?”

“Run,” was all he told her, his long legs carrying him out down the hallway. It was when Delilah’s quick strides followed his she found that the hallway was never-ending. It was the same white walls over and over with no doors or windows. There was nowhere to go, and the heels that pursued them only grew louder.

“There is no outrunning this,” the initiate heaved, a hand reached out for his arm, stopping in the center of the corridor. Scared eyes looked down at the brunette, while Eric had developed the ability to decipher sim from reality, he struggled to prevent fear from consuming him.

“There isn’t?” A smile played on his face as he glanced back where there once was an endless corridor, now, in its place was a large window. “We gotta jump--” He didn’t have to tell her twice-- even if the idea made her heart race.

The jump would carry them away from the chase, but in reality, it was not facing his fear -- she had used the same escapist techniques in her own simulation. Eric took off in a run and Delilah following after-- but not until she glanced back and took in the sight of the woman who sought after them. A woman dressed in blue, her hair platinum blonde and her features angled and all-knowing. Jeanine Matthews.

The shattered glass and the rush of gravity drawing them near the ground. It carried them to his next fear and the next after that. One by one they conquered each simulation encompassing his fear of aging where Delilah came face to face with an Eric who features were wrinkled and hair was gray, together they jumped into the chasm facing the fate of Dauntless’ elderly. Next, was his fear of failure, where he was faced with failing to save of the life of a Dauntless comrade. Then came his fear of loss of control, where he was bound inescapable bounds and succumbed to the anxieties that came forth.

Too close for comfort was the fear of being buried alive. Dirt rained down on their faces, his firm, muscular body pressed against hers in the confinement of an old wooden box. His heavy breathing was felt on her face, each of their movement felt be the other as fingers clawed to dig themselves free. Seven down, two to go. It became apparent to Delilah as she engaged with Eric though out his simulations that most scenario must end with the loss of life-- Eric was above most, afraid to die.

The second last fear was different than the rest. They were in a dark room, the only light by a mirror in which Eric was stationed in-front of. Delilah remained quiet, watching as pale eyes scanned over his features. She couldn’t see what he did, or hear what he was thinking. Instead, all she could do was observes. What was he afraid of? Glancing between the mirror and Eric it soon dawned on her. Eric was afraid of himself, or rather, what he was. It was a gunshot that carried them into his final fear, it was self-inflicted.

His final fear was even more confusing than the last. It was the same dark room, but instead of the mirror, Delilah found that she was looking directly at her Erudite self. It was incredible how much she had changed. Erudite-Delilah was lean, dressed in a blue blazer and self her hair up in a tight knot. She almost didn’t recognize herself.

“You’re afraid of me?” she whispered out to Eric, her eyes moving to meet his.

Eric shook his head slowly, his features puzzled. “Since the day you arrived here in Dauntless, I have found you here in my fearscape. I have tried everything, but I keep ending up back here in this room with you.” Eric circled the Delilah in blue much like a shark circling prey.

“What does this mean?” Delilah asked, confused.

“I don’t know,” Eric admitted, “it’s why I brought you here with me--”

Stepping forward, Delilah of Dauntless tore at the blue clothes of the other. Erudite was not who she was anymore, not completely. She was Dauntless now. She pulled off the layers until the other was left in nothing but a large white button-down shirt much too large for her frame. “That wouldn’t have been mine--”

Glancing back at Eric, she reached forward to remove the final article of clothing and held it out to him. “Put it on,” she ordered. It was a perfect fit. The confusion that rushed through her mind left the room spinning. “Tell me everything you’ve tried. Everything!” The list was brief and violent. Beating, and killing over and over with no avail. That made her skin crawl. He had killed her many times, did that express his external desires? Did he want her dead?

“Now, I’m going to ask again, do you trust me, Delilah?” Eric asked slowly, a careful step moving towards her. She was near paralyzed as he grew closer. It was just the two of them in the room now, the other Delilah was gone.

Her throat was tight, and her hands bulled into tight firsts. He was going to try to kill her now, wasn’t he? It was when he was standing directly in front of her that she let her words slip from her lips. “I don't know if I can--”

She expected to find a hand wrapped around her throat or a gun barrel to her head but instead, he only moved closer. The heat of his breath found her face again as he arched over, then it moved lower to the skin of her neck. “Eric,” her words were barely audible as hot lips could be felt against her neck--

A gasp brought them back to the simulation room, sweat-soaked into their clothes. While Eric stood on the other side of the room now, Delilah could still feel his lips on her neck. “Why did you do that?” she sounded, pushing up from the chair, her form lurching towards his as if she were a cobra ready to strike. She was terrified. Eric knew what she was, she knew what he was but that didn't relieve the tension. Her life was at risk as she was just an initiate -- and that was putting the instances of his last fear aside.

“I wanted to know if my instincts were right,” Eric told her, “I’ve not met anyone else like me before, but you, I knew the moment you fell into Dauntless that you were like me. The only difference is, you fail to hide it as well as I do. I’m surprised you even made it out of Erudite with all the research going on there. Jeanie would have had you up in her labs if you stayed, coming here wasn’t the best choice either but--”

“I’m here now,” Delilah sighed, “you turn me in, and I’m not going down alone. They kill me I’ll be making damn sure that they kill you too!”

“I’m not going to turn you in,” Eric almost laughed, was she completely forgetting what had just happened? “But I can’t protect you either. What we did in my fearscape, you can’t do in your own. You have to face your fears, you can’t just create different ways to avoid them--”

“Like in the last fear… with me?” Delilah asked, her voice hesitant.

“Right,” he confirmed a hand raising up to rub the back of his neck. Eric seemed to be just as embarrassed as she was as silence took the room. What did it all mean? No one knew, and only time could tell them. It did bring forth one question from Eric’s lips; “do you trust me now?”

And she replied; “Yes.”


End file.
